


one eve, a quartet, and a question

by writerdragonfly



Series: [keep us together] [10]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Christmas fic, Established Relationship, Gen, Kidfic, M/M, Parent-Child Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-24
Updated: 2016-01-24
Packaged: 2018-05-15 23:47:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5805058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writerdragonfly/pseuds/writerdragonfly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s late into the night on Christmas Eve, probably early into Christmas morning, and Nora can’t sleep.</p>
            </blockquote>





	one eve, a quartet, and a question

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LiselleVelvet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiselleVelvet/gifts).



> I was waiting to post this until after I finished another fic, but I'm tired of waiting on myself.  
> Sooooo, have some Noraverse Christmas! ♥♥

It’s late into the night on Christmas Eve, probably early into Christmas morning, and Nora can’t sleep.

 

It’s not that she’s expecting Santa Claus, because well, she’s twelve.

 

It’s just. This is the _first_ Christmas with the four of them. Her baby brother’s first Christmas. Dad and Len had even gone out and gotten a _real_ Christmas tree!

 

And she’s a little nervous, too. After what... happened, with Cece and Len’s dad, she’s worried about spending Christmas with the whole family.

 

Today had been nice, just the four of them. Len made a great big batch of homemade cocoa and let her have extra marshmallows even though she had a cavity at her last dentist appointment. They’d sat together on the couch and watched [a Christmas movie that had Len cracking puns](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHCJwj7YITg).

 

And it was nice. She’s just... things had gotten really bad after Thanksgiving, and she doesn’t know if everything is going to be okay once they all get together tomorrow.

 

She finally gives up sometime later and slinks out of bed, taking her fuzzy snowflake blanket with her.

 

The lights are off in the living room when she comes out of her bedroom, but the fairy lights on the Christmas tree are still lit. It’s not very bright, but it’s light enough that she can see her dad and Len making out on the couch, and she can’t help but smile.

 

She loves her dads, both of them. Seeing them together like this makes everything feel a little better.

 

“Dad? Len?” Nora asks, and even in the low light she can see her dad’s face go a little red at being caught.

 

“Why are you still up, Princess?” Len asks her, and she shakes her head.

 

She doesn't want to voice how she feels--it feels like doing so would guarantee that it happens, that everything will shatter as soon as her family is all together.

 

“Can I sit with you?” She asks instead, because that's easier. And really? That's all she wants.

 

“Of course, Nor,” her dad says, and they're both opening their arms up for her.

 

She sits in between them, carefully ignoring the fact that her dad has to move off Len’s lap for that to happen, and rests her head on her dad’s shoulder.

 

“Are you still having nightmares?” Len asks, and she doesn't want to answer.

 

But she knows she has to, “Sometimes. Not tonight...”

 

They sit in silence for a little while after that, both of them comforting her in their own ways.

 

“Nora, why don't you go get your snow gear on?” Len asks suddenly, squeezing her hand gently. She looks back and forth between them, but her dad doesn't even seem surprised.

 

So she listens. When she opens the front closet to pull out her snow pants and coat, she finds a parka hanging there, a bright red bow stuck to it. It looks just like Len’s, down to the color of the fur.

 

She looks back at her dads, and Len smirks at her.

 

The tag on the coat tells her two things--one, it's her size, and two, it's official Captain Cold merchandise.

 

“Is this mine?” She asks, even though she knows the answer.

 

“Merry Christmas, Princess Cold,” Len says, and she laughs a little when her dad glares at him for it.

 

She puts everything on, zips up the parka just as Len’s zipping up his. Her dad is already wearing his coat, though his pajamas are visible underneath. He's got Michael perched on his hip, her little brother sucking on his pacifier sleepily. Michael’s wearing a new coat too, and she's not at all surprised to see it’s supposed to mimic her dad’s suit. It's cute, even if Michael’s too young to appreciate it.

 

They all march their way downstairs, but her dad doesn't go any farther than the front steps with Michael. Her brother is already asleep again, which doesn't surprise her at all.

 

“You wanna build a snowman?” Len asks, and she really, really does.

 

She tries to keep it down as they steal handfuls of snow from the street and sidewalk given how late it is, but it's hard. By the time they roll the last snowball large enough for his head, her dad’s already taken Michael back upstairs. She looks up towards their apartment windows, waving wildly when she sees her dad leaning out the window to watch them. He waves back, and she turns back to the snow.

 

Len takes a picture of the snowman when they're done, and he pulls her close for a tight hug before they head back up. Her face hurts a little from the cold, but she can't deny that she feels _better_ now.

 

“Thank you, Papa,” she tells Len as they trudge up the stairs in snowy boots.

 

He freezes a minute at the name, but then he smiles.

 

“You're welcome, Nora.”

 

She’s never called him Papa before, not to his face, not just like that. Papa Len, once or twice. Usually after Michael calls him that.

 

But she means it.

 

When they get back inside their apartment, her dad is stirring a pot on the stove. Len’s hot cocoa recipe--the one that Lisa once told her was top secret, family only, the one Len had made in the afternoon before they watched movies together.

 

Twice in one day feels like a special occasion.

 

“Can I get extra marshmallows again, Dad?” She asks as she kicks off her boots.

 

“Of course. ‘Cocoa isn't cocoa without mini marshmallows’,” her dad quotes with a smile.

 

It's done by the time she's peeled everything off, and Len sits at the table with her.

 

“Can I be Princess Chill?” She asks, mostly to see her dad’s reaction. Len snorts into his mug, and her dad sighs. It's the good sigh, the one that she knows means, “I'm fondly exasperated with you.”

 

He doesn't give her an answer, but she takes it as a yes anyway.

 

“Can I ask you an important question, Nora?” Len’s voice is serious, and she doesn't know if that's a good thing. Her dad looks a little worried too.

 

“Yeah, Papa?” She asks, and he has to know its deliberate. Calling him that.

 

“You can say no, and I won't be upset. But would you be okay if I asked your father to marry me?” Len asks, and she knows she's staring but she can't help it.

 

She doesn't know exactly how long they've been together, but Len’s been living with them for almost a year now. It feels like they've always been together and the idea of them getting married, it doesn't change anything.

 

It feels like they already are.

 

And, well.

 

She knows what her dad had gotten for Len at the mall last week.

 

 “Dad’s always late!” Is what squeaks out instead of a response, which leaves Len looking a little heartbroken but mostly confused.

 

“I know that, Nor. But what about my question--” Len is interrupted by her dad tapping on his shoulder.

 

And then Len turns and sees the ring box in her dad's hand and Nora can see it. She can see the moment that it all clicks together.

 

“You're going to adopt me, right?” She asks, interrupting what feels like the world’s most silent proposal and acceptance in the history of ever.

 

Papa’s grin is blinding.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on [ tumblr.](http://writerdragonfly.tumblr.com/post/135915769430/one-eve-a-quartet-and-a-question)


End file.
